who has the nicest facility

Great topic to get us excited for the spring.

With out trying to offend any other programs, I will go out on the limb and say Collegiate here Richmond takes the prize.

Stadium seating with chair backs dug out to dug out. Green monster with covered chair back seating in left. All stone construction.

St C's is beautiful, STAB is great, Deep Run great, but Collegiate is on another level.

Coach Slater is a lucky guy.

Rich
www.playinschool.com

In NoVa? Sad to say that "no one" gets the vote for a combination of all parts to make a 1st rate facility. There are some good stands (PVI, Westfield among others), while good surfaces (BTW, what happened to Robinson's field? One could putt on it in years past) are very rare, esp. since most schools have other teams using the field in different seasons. Views? It's NoVa. Roads/traffic/buildings are the norm, w/FH being quite nice. Head South or West & the "average" baseball facility really improves.

We probably dont have the "views" that some more rural parts of the state have, but there is no question Northern VA has some of the premier HS baseball facilities in the state. My opinion:

1. Robinson - Great field, GREAT place to watch a game with the hillside behind the plate running down the LF line. Field will be great once spring arrives. Count on it.

2. Lake Braddock - Can almost say the exact same thing except put the hill going down the RF line. Awesome field and awesome place to watch a game. For my money probably the best place in the region to watch a big game.

3. Madison - Not nearly as much fan space behind the plate to watch the action as the first two, but the shear numbers that they bring in for big games and the quality of the field itself make this a great facility.

Some of the newer schools out "west" have some nice fields (Battlefield and a few of the AA Loudoun schools jump out), but most schools that didnt open up in the last 10 years are way behind the average schools in the Northern Region. As far as the schools down "south", many schools in the CR don't have lights!

The one exception is NoVA is probably Arlington County, where Yorktown has a respectable new field but the other two are awful.

While there is no reason to do so, we could probably rattle off 3-6 Northern Region facilities that I would categorize as terrible. Id say probably 14-17 are "average to above average", and about 5-8 are definitely top tier.

Around the Richmond area, I'd say St. Christopher's has the nicest stands. Collegiate has the nicest complex overall. For fan's sight lines and field conditions, there are several that are very well set up and maintained but I'd probably say Hanover rates # 1, Deep Run close # 2. James River, Cosby, Godwin, Monacan come to mind as places that have had a lot done to make it nice, but all have a lot of blocked views as well.

I think that Fireman's Field in Purcellville would have to be on the list of best places in the NoVA area. Love the facility and with the upgrades to the parking and surrounding area it is even nicer. Probably a good reason why the Babe Ruth World Series has a constant rotation through it. The field is owned by the town and Loudoun Valley High School uses it as their home field...

I will put R. Charles Hott Field on the campus of James Wood HS in this mix for what it looked like between the years of 2005-2007:

http://s306.photobucket.com/al...?albumview=slideshow

Did they fix the grass @ Robinson? Used to be a close cropped mix, but was a dandilion patch this past summer.

Madison's "mudpit" in front of home dugout has gotten worse as well.

LB is great for watching, but like Robinson the field is getting more than a bit worn.

It just seems to me that NR BB facilities have (in contrast w/the rest of the Commonwealth) become a bit tired & worn (best case) or downright pitiful.

As to that JW HS field... very nice indeed.

In the Richmond area, my favorites are Hanover and Godwin. For me, Godwin gets extra points because if you get there early you can stand right behind the plate about 10 feet from the action (you're also practically sitting in the visitor's dugout). And you've got the press box to lean against...all in all, game nights at Godwin are a personal favorite of mine.

quote:

It just seems to me that NR BB facilities have (in contrast w/the rest of the Commonwealth) become a bit tired & worn (best case) or downright pitiful.

I believe it has to do with all the NVTBL games that are played on the NOVA fields. Also, at Lake Braddock, the field hockey teams plays on the baseball field in the fall. Come springtime though, the field is usually in very good condition.

I guess Ill go back and try to prequalify my previous remarks.......the fields I mentioned previously and the fields that I believe are excellent in Northern VA are in great shape for the HIGH SCHOOL SEASON. No doubt many of them go to pieces once rec leagues take over in the summer.

Agree with Golfball about community usage in general being an issue with field conditions. For many high school coaches, the philosophy is to have the field in tip top shape during the season, then "let it go" (as far as the quality of the cutouts and condition of the mound and plate) during the summer and fall when there are often games 4-5 times a week. Becomes an awful lot for a high school coach to stay on top of.....especially considering they dont get paid a dime to take care of the field.

Forgot to mention Westfield as an A+ HS baseball field (Just wish the fences were further back).

I didnt see Robinson over the summer, but Id speculate that any deterioration of the field probably had to do with a brief time period when they did not have a coach in place. Id bet it will be great as usual this spring.

Madison is as well maintained (GREAT grass cutting patterns!) during the HS season as any field in the state for my money. When they host the NR tourney games in the spring it is always in phenomenal condition.

Agree with Westfield! Probably in anyones top 5.

Disagree with Godwin. Not even on my list (if I had one). Except for standing directly behind home plate the line of site from almost everywhere else is pretty rough. I do love the short fence down the left field line, but even there you can't see much (unless you have the coveted first or second spot from the tall fence).

I know this isn't a "high school" field, but lots of games (and hopefully more in the future) get played there... RF&P is awesome! With the new bats the problem of losing too many balls over the wall might be fixed. Would love to see more regular season games, regionals and maybe state tourney there.

Rich
www.playinschool.com

Agreed that Westfield is the best* in NoVa, but (IMO) would only rank as "v.good" in the rest of the Commonwealth...

* - Simpson looked good a few years back when they did some work - great example of an "old school" setup, but the best "field" (playing surface) in NoVa has to be the newish (3yo maybe??) field in Fairfax - not the HS (yikes), but at a local Elementary school (??). Saw a game there this summer - it's gorgeous. Well crowned, mix of bluegrasses look very nice, and the cutouts are a proper mix w/the nice red tint. Simple & clean dugouts, cage, & bullpens (fenced off, unlike most of NR). No pressbox or scoreboard, but very well lit... a real jewel tucked alongside I 66.

In terms of the Hampton Roads area from the fields I've seen I would have to say that Great Bridge, Western Branch, and First Colonial have great fields in no particular order. Great Bridge and Western Branch have nice playing surfaces and the lighting gives them a big stadium field. First Colonial's field received some very nice renovations last year that include a brick backstop that make it look really nice.

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
Agreed that Westfield is the best* in NoVa, but (IMO) would only rank as "v.good" in the rest of the Commonwealth...

* - Simpson looked good a few years back when they did some work - great example of an "old school" setup, but the best "field" (playing surface) in NoVa has to be the newish (3yo maybe??) field in Fairfax - not the HS (yikes), but at a local Elementary school (??). Saw a game there this summer - it's gorgeous. Well crowned, mix of bluegrasses look very nice, and the cutouts are a proper mix w/the nice red tint. Simple & clean dugouts, cage, & bullpens (fenced off, unlike most of NR). No pressbox or scoreboard, but very well lit... a real jewel tucked alongside I 66.

That would be Providence ES...that field opened 2 years ago I think...VERY nice...mostly used by Babe Ruth I was told...may have been partially financed by BR too...that is what i was told, but don't know it to be a fact. I do know that NVTBL doesnt get use of it much, if any at all.

Games I saw there were an NVTBL wood bat tournament...

Agree with PIS that I hope more high school baseball will move back to RF&P. It's so much nicer than The Diamond. I'm not sure how many it seats, but with 500-1000 fans in RF&P it's packed and noisy and full of life. That same number of fans at The Diamond and it's empty and dead.

I'm not even sure it's a huge thrill for the kids to play on a minor league field considering all the various events they do where they play on top tier college fields or other minor league parks. I suppose you could make the argument that RF&P provides a geographical advantage to Henrico and even Hanover teams, but I think that advantage would be minimal at best.

quote:

Originally posted by Jess1:
Agreed that Westfield is the best* in NoVa

Really? Have you been out to Fireman's? Westfield is nice but the outfield is short and lacks the character that Fireman's has and the stands/announcer's booth with pressbox at Fireman's are both much nicer. They have a full cover for the infield so it is very nice as well. Ask why almost all the NoVA schools like to travel out to Fireman's to play LV for their out of district games...

You mean Loudoun County Park's field in Purcelville? (hope I got the spelling right)

Not exactly traditionally NoVa, and AFAIK it's not a HS field, and IMO, the playing surface @ the Fairfax field I mentioned earlier is slightly better - but not the rest of the facilities, of course.

Firemans = best facility in my opinion, but not the best field in terms of condition or playing surface.